Hachimura, Gonzaga use strong 2nd half to beat USD 79-67

Rui Hachimura scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half and had 10 rebounds and No. 3 Gonzaga pulled away in the second half to beat San Diego 79-67 on Saturday night for its 16th straight victory.

Author:
Associated Press

Published:
9:35 PM PST February 16, 2019

Updated:
9:35 PM PST February 16, 2019

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Rui Hachimura scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half and had 10 rebounds and No. 3 Gonzaga pulled away in the second half to beat San Diego 79-67 on Saturday night for its 16th straight victory.

Zach Norvell Jr. added 18 points, Josh Perkins 15 and Brandon Clarke 14 for the Bulldogs (25-2, 12-0 West Coast). The nation's highest scoring team, Gonzaga had only 30 points in the first half but then scored 31 points in the first 9:59 of the second half to take control.

Gonzaga shot 69 percent (20 of 29) in the second half to finish at 58.2 percent (32 of 55).

Gonzaga took the lead for good during an 8-0 run early in the second half, getting a jumper from Perkins, a reverse layup by Hachimura and two baskets by Clarke for a 45-37 lead that forced Toreros coach Sam Scholl to call a timeout.

The Zags, who have won 10 straight against the Toreros, continued to pour it on behind Hachimura and Brandon Clarke. Their biggest lead was 15 points with 8:29 to play.

Olin Carter III scored 20 points, Isaiah Pineiro 14 and Tyler Williams 12 for San Diego (16-11, 5-7), which lost its third straight game. The Toreros dropped to 22-73 in the series with Gonzaga, including 13-31 in San Diego.

Gonzaga was coming off a 73-60 win at Loyola Marymount in which it trailed midway through the second half before closing with a 20-6 run.

San Diego managed to tie it at 30 at halftime even though Pineiro, their leading scorer, had only two points and committed three fouls. Carter had 12 points in the half.

BIG PICTURE

Gonzaga: Twenty-five representatives from 19 NBA teams were credentialed for the game. The Zags are 44-4 against USD under coach Mark Few.